Quote:
Let's hear your personal favorite bars and restaurants now.
Back in the '90's and early 2000's could have rattled off dozens of cool bars and clubs. But now I am married and my NYC nightlife is virtually nonexistent. Plus so many of the great places I loved are gone (e.g., Drinkland, The Oak Room Bar at The Plaza and all the great Peter Gatien clubs).
Still, the wife and I realy like Pegu Club on Houston near West Broadway. It is done in the style of a Burmese English colonial club. The cocktails are pricey (but then again all of NYC is these days) but very good. They also only let in enough people that can be seated plus a few at the bar so it never becomes a mad crush (as opposed to every place in the Meatpacking District (which reminds me of the good old days when the Meatpacking District at night was where you went to score drugs, pick up tranny hookers and try to avoid getting mugged/beat up in the process in contrast to the underage-drinking Disneyland it has become -- ah yes the old times, but I digress)).
I used to be obsessed with restaurants and trying everything but got jaded with that attitude years ago, even before I became a vegetarian which furtherm limits where I eat. But I love "Craft" where I can create the veggie/starch meal of my dreams while my meat-eating friends can enjoy themelves as well and we can all share a great bottle of wine.
Daniel Boulud's second restaurant (after "Daniel"), "Cafe Boulud" on the Upper East Side is terrific.
The Danny Meyer restaurants are all still solid (if stolid)choices. "Union Square Cafe" is a bit of a boring choice this many years on but is certainly good for a revisit every five years or so (and if you've never been then of course you should go). I adored the 7-course vegetarian tasting menu at "Gramercy Tavern" recently and their wine list is also excellent. Of the Mario Batalli places, I like the humble Pizzeria/Enoteca "Otto" which I go to at least monthly (although it is down the block from my apt.) and wonderful but postage-stamp-sized "Casa Mono" in the Gramercy area. "Tamarind" on East 22nd street is great for high-end/slightly westernized Indian food (love the Thalis).
For romantic dinners you still cannot go wrong with the standby "Aureole". That is where I took my fiance for dinner the night we got engaged (and no, I did not propose there in public).